LOS ANGELES — Brandon Ingram found himself with more time on his hands last month than he had hoped when he began his third NBA season.

All-Star Weekend offers the only extended in-season break for players not invited to participate in any of the festivities or the main event itself. But that’s not how Ingram envisioned spending that week. He told The Athletic in the preseason that he expected to become a first-time All-Star when the game was played in the capital city of his native North Carolina.

Instead, Ingram’s numbers through 46 games before the midseason break not only left the former No. 2 overall pick well short of All-Star consideration, but they had also raised questions about whether Kyle Kuzma, not Ingram, was the most valuable member of the Lakers’ young core.

“Oh, I was terrible,” Ingram told The Athletic when asked about the first half of his season. “I was shitty. I don’t think I played with a lot of confidence. I just...